Forbidden
by Fiori Omega
Summary: Clary and Jace don't want to be just brother and sister. They have to deal with Shadowhunting and keeping their forbidden relationship a secret. Will they succeed or crack under the pressure? Can't fit everything into summary- read to find out! HIATUS
1. Just your Brother

Forbidden Fruit- Clary and Jace don't want to be just brother and sister. They have to deal with their feelings for each other, Shadowhunting, and keeping their forbidden relationship a secret. Will they succeed or crack under the pressure? Rated T for Fiori Omega (hey, that's me!) 's extreme paranoia.

**Authors note/ disclaimer: Unfortunately, the Mortal Instruments belong to Cassandra Clare, not me. *sob* :(**

Jace p.o.v- "I'll just be your brother from now on. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" The only lie Jace had ever told, he had told to Clary, the love of his life, the only one he would ever want, and also, his sister; and it was killing him to do it. He would never be just her brother. Brothers didn't look at their sisters like he looked at Clary, didn't feel the same way about their sisters. How much he wanted to tell her how he really felt, how- instead of telling her that he wanted to be her sibling, he wanted to kiss her- he loved her. 'It's for the best,' he told himself, 'Clary needs to be able to have someone who can love her, who's supposed to love her.' Sitting in his room in the institute, he stopped pacing his bedroom floor to swear loudly and kick the wall out of frustration, leaving a dirty black mark on the immaculate stretch of white. He doubted anything could make him feel whole again, when lying to Clary, pushing her away, had ripped him so completely into pieces. Everything he had known, thought he had known, was turned upside down. A world without Clary. The thought was absolutely unfathomable to Jace, and he immediately sat on his bed cupping his face in his hands. A world without Clary would be horrible, cold without her warmth, dark without her light, ugly and worthless without her priceless beauty.

A knock at the door interrupted Jace's moment of angst. He looked up as Alec popped his head around the corner. "Hey, Jace? We got a demon at Pandemonium. You up for it?"

Jace nodded slowly. Pandemonium. That was where he had first seen Clary. He remembered feeling truly alive for the first time as soon as their eyes had met. Jace shook off the thought and grabbed a Seraph blade from the small stand by his bedside. He followed Alec out of the room to get their gear and weapons.

They had been waiting for Isabelle for over an hour. When she finally appeared, she was wearing a long black dress made up primarily of lace, and somehow managed to cover her marks while exposing large amounts of her pale skin. Jace supposed to anyone else, she would look absolutely stunning, but he was pretty much dumbstruck when he turned to look at Clary. She had on black boots with a deadly heel, skinny dark wash jeans, and a low-cut top in a color not unlike that of blood. Jace wanted to run to her, scoop her up into his arms and kiss her, but he forced himself to tear his eyes off of Clary and say stiffly, "So, we gonna go now or what?" On the way to Pandemonium, no one said anything, but the Jace felt like he was going to explode if he didn't talk to Clary. Entering the club, Clary and Isabelle melted into the dancing crowd. Instantly, several boys came up next to each of the girls, and Jace had to tense every one of the muscles in his body to stop himself from ripping them all to pieces. 'By the Angel,' he swore angrily at himself, 'Jealous much? Ugh- I'm so pathetic. Pathetic and selfish and jealous. No wonder I'm Clary's brother- she could never be allowed to end up with someone as useless as I am.' He looked up to see Clary run her hand over a demon boy's cheek, and had to concentrate on why they were there, especially when the other boy wound his arms around her. He would get to kill the demon later, Jace promised himself, and it would make him feel so much better. In the back room, Isabelle wrapped the demon boy with her gold whip, and Jace took immense pleasure in the fact that he was slowly shoving his Seraph blade into its throat until it died. It wasn't enough to squash the horrible feeling that something was still missing.


	2. Sleepless and Sketching

**Disclaimer: Mortal Instruments belong to Cassandra Clare, and I am not her. **

Clary p.o.v- 'There had been a weird expression on Jace's face as he had killed that demon in Pandemonium,' Clary thought to herself, 'almost like revenge? But why would he need revenge on a demon for Angel's sake?' She couldn't quite place it. But she knew she didn't like it. She liked when Jace's face was kind, when it was open and unguarded. And, when it was coming closer to hers, like right when he was about to kiss her. She gasped for air and shook her head rapidly, trying to get the thought of kissing Jace out of her head. 'I can't catch my breath, because he is my air. He's the only thing that keeps me alive, so how can I live without him?' Clary's pencil broke in her hand from how hard she was gripping it, and she looked down in shock, only to be more surprised by what she saw.

While she had been thinking, she had also been unconsciously sketching, and now Clary's paper held a picture of Jace, smiling at her. It was so lifelike; she would have wondered how she had compressed him into her sketchbook if it had not been in black and white. She stared at the picture in amazement. Jace appeared to be standing in a beautiful field, with blooming flowers and healthy plants. But then, outside the apparent invisible bubble around him, everything was dead and broken. The shriveled leaves looked almost if they were trying to reach out towards him. Clary shut the book quickly after she saw a flower half in, half out of the circle that had an image almost like her own face on it.

'But that's what its like,' a voice inside her head nagged, 'you're just close enough that you won't die, but you're too far away to be able to live either.' Clary shut her eyes, hoping for sleep, but she lay awake yearning for Jace, unable to sleep if he wasn't with her.

"Great." She muttered sarcastically, "Now not only can I not breathe, but I can't sleep either."

'Like I told you,' the voice came again, 'you can't exist without him. He is your-.' Clary was confused. The voice in her head hadn't finished its sentence, and left her even more sleepless than before.

**AN: Please read and review! And if you have any ideas for later chapters, I'm all ears! Love you all, **

**-Fiori**


	3. Shop or Soup

**Disclaimer: Mortal Instruments belong to Cassandra Clare, not me.**

When the morning came, it brought Isabelle with it. "Come on Clary!" she shook Clary's shoulder under the blankets where Clary was still trying unsuccessfully to get some sleep.

"Go away," muttered Clary, recovering her head. Isabelle snorted and yanked Clary's exposed wrist so hard that the two girls fell into a heap on the floor. "Oww," Clary complained, "All I wanted was some sleep. Is that too much to ask now?"

"From the looks of it, you didn't sleep at all," commented Isabelle dryly, "So you can deal with being awake for today too. See, how it works is you're supposed to sleep at night, then come keep me company while I shop during the day!" Clary groaned, her tired mind realizing why Izzy had gotten her up and what she was going to be forced to do for the rest of the day. Seeing Clary's expression, Isabelle remarked, "It's either come with me, now, or I'll make you some soup so you feel better." Clary bolted upright to get ready.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming! I'll only take a minute! Please, no soup!" Clary was suddenly wide awake for the time being. If it was stay awake or have sludge/ soup/ slop made by Isabelle, Clary wouldn't sleep for another year.

"Geez," Isabelle said, backing out of Clary's room and sounding exaggeratedly hurt, "From the way you people treat it, you'd think my cooking was horrible!"

**AN: Sorry, kinda short, but R + R anyway please!**

**-Fiori**


	4. Being Slightly Creeperish

Jace p.o.v- Jace watched as Isabelle dragged Clary out the door. He really didn't envy her- Isabelle shopping had the possibility to be as deadly as her cooking. They'd probably be running from one store to the next all day.

He returned to his room and stared at the blank walls around him. The sharp piece of the broken Portal was the only visible thing of color in his room. There was a picture of Clary too, but that was hidden with both an invisibility rune and under a book he had on his table.

Suddenly, Jace had an idea. He ran down the hall to Clary's room and burst inside. Her sketchbook was sitting on a shelf, and he grabbed it. Jace flipped the book open to the first drawing, and slowly thumbed through each page. There was the picture Clary had drawn of the mug, which had helped them to figure out that the mortal cup was in the tarot card. There were two small drawings of Jace, one of them smiling dangerously, and the other a stony faced Jace holding two glowing Seraph blades. The light of the swords illuminated his face and caused his cheekbones to look sharp enough to use as yet another weapon. Jace flipped the page.

Jace, standing on the edge of a building in full Shadowhunter gear, snow white wings stretched out behind him. Next page, Isabelle with her whip wrapped around a faceless demon, then Alec with his bow at the ready, pointed at some unknown enemy. Then, a half finished sketch of the Lightwood family and Jace. Again turning the page, Jace saw another picture of himself, this time smiling almost tenderly. It looked like the picture Jace was looking down, and the real, corporal Jace was confused. Then he realized that that would have been Clary's viewpoint as he was about to kiss her. Blinking, he flipped to the next drawing.

There was a picture of Valentine, smashing the Portal as Jace stood there, looking frozen. He immediately flinched back from the picture, then silently yelled at himself for allowing a drawing to get to him. Still, that wasn't a memory he wanted. He shuddered and turned to the next one.

It was beautiful, but Jace didn't understand why he would be standing in a field of flowers. Flowers weren't really his thing.

"I'm seeing a bit of a trend here, aren't you?"

Jace dropped the book and pulled out a dagger, whirling around to see Alec smirking at him. "I didn't hear you come in." he said casually, picking up the sketchbook and placing it back in its place.

Alec straightened up and looked at Jace. "Training," he said, "Come on." Alec left the room, leaving Jace staring after him.

Jace sighed tiredly, but followed after him. Maybe a bit of fighting would help to clear his mind. 'Doubtful,' added a little nagging voice in the back of his head.

**AN: Well, what do you think? Kinda weird, with Jace creeping in Clary's room or what? Idk so let me know! R + R please! **

**-Fiori**


	5. Training, Kissing, Confusion

Clary P.o.v: Clary grabbed a few large shopping bags and left Isabelle at the elevator. Dropping most of them in front of Izzy's room, then headed towards her own with the single bag that contained the stuff Izzy had forced her to get. She threw it towards the closet, and went to sit down on her bed. Picking up her sketchbook, a note that had been resting on its cover fell off and drifted to the floor. Clary reached down, picked it up, and read the note from Jace. It wasn't signed, but she recognized his handwriting. _Meet me in the training room,_ it read, _Your training has been put off for far too long as is. _Clary dropped her sketchbook and the slip of paper and headed out of her room to the training room where Jace was waiting. Somehow she felt even more alive now than she had before, when she was threatened with the soup. She arrived and opened the door to the weapons room. Sure enough, Jace was there, throwing a handful of daggers into the target on the far wall.

For a moment, she thought that he hadn't heard her come in, but as he threw the last two knives at once, he whirled around so fast it made Clary blink, startled, and asked with a cocky grin on his face, "Ready?"

Jace P.o.v: Yet again, Jace slammed Clary onto the ground. She really wasn't very good at this. Though he assumed, like him, that she hadn't slept at all, and then she had gone shopping with Izzy. 'That might be why she sucks- she's tired,' Jace thought, 'So am I, but at least I got Starbucks this morning.' He rolled off of her, and she sat up, frowning.

"Sorry!" Clary immediately apologized, "I'm just really tired."

'No shit,' Jace thought, then asked his sister, "Do you want to take a break?"

"No! I can keep going for now. I've gotta learn something!" she exclaimed, and Jace recognized some of his own stubbornness in her refusal to quit until she had accomplished something. He raised an eyebrow, but helped her up, then took his spot across from her on the mat.

"Ready?" he asked. Instead of answering, Clary lunged at him and he dodged out of the way a split second before her fist his nose. Grabbing her wrist, Jace twisted to try and get Clary to falter, but she swung herself around using him as leverage so both of her feet went as a solid double kick into his side. Jace stumbled back a half step, then allowed himself to fall forward, bringing Clary down underneath him. She tried to scramble out from under him before he could squash her, but Jace caught himself with his hands on either side of Clary's head, and pushed himself upwards. Shifting his hands, he trapped both of Clary's wrists at her sides. Then he noticed that their faces were incredibly close together, and he couldn't stop himself before he had leaned down the extra half centimeter to put his lips gently to hers. A burst of fire spread through his veins, and instead of backing up, he leaned even more into Clary. She responded to his intent kisses with a ferocity that rivaled his own. In a matter of seconds, they were both breathing more heavily than they had been before when they were actually fighting. Clary turned her head slightly, and Jace pulled back, surprised.

"We're siblings, Jace." She panted, "We can't!" Her voice held all the longing in spite of agony that he had felt for so long, and he knew that even though she was admitting, as he was, that it wasn't right, she was also admitting that she still wanted it as much as he did.

Dipping his head to the side to reach her lips again, Jace said, "Then say it like you mean it." Then he kissed her again, and felt her give in once more and kiss him back.

The door to the training room burst open, and Jace jerked his head away from Clary. Alec stood at the door, then slowly came into the room. Jace held his position over Clary for a few more seconds before allowing himself to drop beside Clary on the mat. "Better," he told her, then turned to Alec. "What's up?"

Alec hesitated for a moment, then told Clary, "Isabelle sent me to get you. She said she needs your help for something." As Clary stood up, Jace announced, "Well, then I'm gonna grab a shower." Both he and Clary left, and parted without a word at the door. If either of them had turned around, they would have seen Alec still sitting by himself in the middle of the room.

**AN: Starbucks! :) Mi Amore! Idk what language that is but I'm pretty sure it means I love it, which I do. Starbucks, I mean. If you amore this story, please review. Even if you don't love it, please R+R anyway!**

**-Fiori**


	6. Girls and Glittering Guys

Clary P.o.v: Clary walked slowly to Isabelle's room, utterly lost in thought. Kissing Jace in the training room had been different from kissing him in the Seelie court, in that there was no one watching or judging; but also, it had been the same in the way that fire had run through her veins and though she knew it was wrong, it felt so right.

When she knocked on Isabelle's door, it flew open and Isabelle grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside, slamming the door shut behind them. "Hi?" Clary said questioningly, wondering why Izzy had needed her so badly.

"Hey," Isabelle responded, "I need your help! I don't know what to wear!" For a moment, Clary was irritated. She had to stop kissing Jace to help with an outfit decision! Then shock at Izzy's needing HER help with clothes took over, and Clary almost laughed, but then Isabelle went on, "I have a date tonight, and…" she trailed off.

Clary smiled, "Cool, with who?"

Isabelle almost looked frightened at Clary's response when she answered nervously, "Simon."

Clary's smile grew, "That's great!" She chuckled, thinking of how Simon had always been so dumbstruck around Isabelle until he had been… reborn into a vampire. Clary had never pictured Izzy, of all people, to be unsure of herself. She stopped laughing abruptly as she saw Isabelle's serious face, and turned to the mountain of clothes strewn about. Surely they could find something. They had only gone shopping that morning! 'Though,' Clary amended silently, 'Kissing Jace had seemed like an eternity of bliss, so this morning seems at least a few weeks away already.'

Alec P.o.v: After both Clary and Jace had left him in the training room alone, Alec sat for a moment in silence. Then he ran outside, grabbing his phone and dialing a very familiar number as he went. "Hey Magnus," he said after the warlock picked up on the first ring, "Are you busy?"

When Alec reached Magnus' apartment, he quickly unlocked the door with the key Magnus had given him, and went inside. For a moment, there was no one in sight, but then with a bright flash and a large amount of multicolored glitter, Magnus appeared in front of him. Alec raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I'm trying to work on a new entrance," Magnus announced, waving his arm and sending more glitter swirling, "Just walking in got so, you know, boring!"

Alec bit his lower lip to keep himself from laughing. Though he doubted Magnus would do anything permanently harmful, he didn't want to take the risk. Apparently, it didn't fool Magnus, judging by the slightly annoyed expression visible through the still falling glitter.

**AN: Well, don't be shy, let me know what you think! Just press the review button right there! **

**-Fiori**


	7. Awkward Simon Interruption

Simon knocked on Clary's door, "Clary, come on!" he said loudly through the thick wood. Moments later, Clary emerged, looking slightly annoyed. Simon wondered why.

_**(Flashback)**_

_Clary heard a tap on her window and looked up to see Jace staring at her through the glass. Immediately, Clary ran over and wrenched the window open despite the cold November air. Jace slipped into her room, wrapping his strong pale arms around her and kissing her gently. "Hey," Clary breathed, already overwhelmed by him. _

"_Hello yourself," he replied, kissing her again and making her giggle. _

_Then, just like she had before, Clary pulled back slightly. "This is wrong," she whispered against his lips, "We're brother and sister."_

_Jace regarded her seriously for a moment, then took her face in his hands. "I know," he murmured, "But right now I really don't care." He kissed Clary again, this time so hot and fierce that it sent fire through Clary's veins. _

_She reached up and pulled his face closer to hers, twining her tongue with Jace's. _

_His hands dropped back to her waist, then they lifted her up so Jace didn't have to bend down to reach her. _

_Clary was only vaguely aware of Jace's hands on her skin, though where their skin touched it burned. It was a pleasant, comfortable burn, not unlike that of her stele. She barely noticed when they rolled onto her bed without breaking off the kiss. All she knew was the complete sense of wholeness and joy that were never there when Jace was not. She gasped for air when Jace unlocked his lips from hers to kiss his way down her neck and across her collarbone. Clary reached up and tugged Jace's shirt over his head, tossing it to the side so she could run her hands over his perfect chest. She could feel his smile as her chest rose and fell, and was just catching her breath when his mouth found hers again with the same urgency as before. She grabbed around his waist and pulled him down onto her so they were lying parallel. Jace still had his arms on either side of Clary, so his weight wasn't pressing down on her any more than was comfortable. She could feel his warmth through her clothes, and Clary was about to hook her leg around his back when a knock sounded at the door. Both Clary and Jace groaned quietly for the interruption, but kept kissing. _

_There was another impatient knock. "Clary, come on!" she heard Simon say from outside her room. _

_Jace pulled back from Clary and rolled off of her. She sat up. Why was Simon here? Clary couldn't remember, and the fact that Jace hadn't yet put on his shirt from where it lay on the floor wasn't exactly helping her memory either. Jace pulled on the gray tee shirt, smirking as he noticed Clary's gaze still on him. She wrenched her eyes off of Jace and headed to the door to see what Simon wanted. Jace stood in a shadow, where Clary could no longer see him, but she could feel his golden gaze on her back. _

"Hey Simon," Clary said, forcing a smile, "What's up?"

He frowned at her, "We're going to the hospital to visit your mom. Did you forget?" Simon asked, raising one eyebrow.

"No," Clary lied, "Of course not!"

Simon didn't look convinced.

There was an awkward pause, then Clary said sharply, "I'll go get my shoes." She quickly slipped back into her room and pulled on her shoes as fast as she could. Jace was next to her in a split second, already kissing her again. Clary relaxed into him, then frowned as he pulled back.

"You better go," he told her, "Say hi to mom for me."

Clary bit her lip. The guilty pleasure of being with Jace was replaced with a greater guilt as she remembered that Jace was her brother. It was a fact she always seemed to forget as soon as their lips met. 'He's like a drug,' Clary thought on the way to the hospital with Simon, 'when he's around, everything's ok, and as soon as he leaves, everything's so much worse in comparison.' She sighed and Simon looked at her but still said nothing.

**AN: You like? Read and review, and tune in for the next chapter (which I am putting up today as well to make up for the fact that I haven't written in a while)! Should I put in more fluff like this or what? Let me know. Seriously. Do it. You know you want to. **

**-Fiori ^_^**


	8. Self Pity and Utter Cluelessness

**AN: You got it- this is the second chapter today. Enjoy!**

**-Fiori^_^**

Jace (/Alec) p.o.v- Jace fell backwards onto Clary's bed. How did she make him feel so good, and then leave and make him feel like crap? It was worse than some of the drugs some mundanes did. Jace didn't want to copy any vampires, especially not gay, sparkling, fictional ones,** (AN: nothing against gays [lol Alec is one, and I love him for it even though that means I'm definitely not his type] , sparkling gays [lol Magnus is one :) and he's the best!3 ] or twilight [ I like twilight actually] but I just had to put that in because I thought it was funny!)** but a heroin- like addiction was the only way he could possibly compare what Clary was like to him. 'They say forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest. It's true,' he mused, staring aimlessly at the ceiling, 'but no one ever says how much it sucks when the sweetness is gone.' Hopefully Clary, the sweetest part of his life, would be back from the hospital soon. How long had it been? He didn't feel like moving to check the clock or to check the skies, as their father had taught him in Idris, for the time, but it felt like forever since Clary had left to visit Jocelyn. He thought he heard the elevator, and then footsteps came towards Clary's room.

"Hey," Alec said, poking his head around the door before coming fully into the room, "I thought I might find you here."

Jace swore inwardly and sat up to glare at Alec.

"Look, I know what's going on. Between you and Clary, I mean."Alec said.

This time Jace cured out loud.

Alec smirked, "And that proves it."

Jace suddenly realized Alec had tricked him. He hadn't actually known anything until he saw Jace's reaction. "Shit!" he said again; just to make himself feel better. It didn't work.

Alec looked at him. "You know it doesn't matter to me, right?" he said slowly, causing Jace to blink in surprise.

"It doesn't?" he asked. Jace had suspected for a while that Alec liked him, but judging by the way he was reacting to Jace's romance with Clary, he supposed it had only been his ego talking.

"No." Alec told him, "Though I wish you would have told me sooner."

Jace considered for a moment, then said, "How would that go?" He adopted an almost mocking tone, and if Alec hadn't known Jace so well, he would have sworn that Jace was mocking him instead of mocking himself. "Hey Alec, I just wanted to tell you, I'm in love with my sister," Jace continued, "And she's in love with me too, isn't that just terrific!"

Alec opened his mouth to say something, but Jace kept talking.

"Oh, and guess what, we know we're siblings, but we don't care. I'm actually waiting here for her to get back from the hospital where she's seeing our mother, and then we're probably just going to go back to making out like we were right before she left!" His voice was extremely bitter, and he gave a harsh laugh at the end of his little rant.

Alec saw Jace's expression and understood how he felt. To a certain extent- he had never been in love with his sister. Girls, even girls as beautiful as Isabelle, weren't really his type.

Jace stared at Alec. His own agony was almost mirrored in Alec's clear blue eyes, and he wondered if Alec had ever had a forbidden love. Of course- Magnus! Jace inwardly smacked himself. He had seen Alec and the glittering warlock looking at each other, so why hadn't he pieced it together before?

Alec half smiled at Jace, then slipped out the door as quietly as he had come in, and Jace vaguely wondered why a few small flecks of glitter shimmered in Alec's dark hair before he flicked on his iPod on and closed his eyes as the music started.

_I wanted you to know_

_I love the way you laugh_

_I wanna hold you tight/high and steal your pain away_

_I keep your photograph_

_And I know it serves me well_

_I wanna hold you tight/high and steal your pain_

_Because I'm broken_

_When I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right_

_When you're gone away_

_You're gone away_

_You don't feel me anymore…_

…_Cuz I'm broken_

_When I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right _

_When you're gone_

_You've gone away_

_You don't feel me _

_Anymore _

Jace sighed as the song ended. It was amazing- that was pretty much the way he felt about Clary. Sighing again, Jace started the song over.

**AN: The song Jace is listening to is Broken by Seether. Great song- listen to it! You If you want all the lyrics, you can just PM me or whatever if you don't want to look them up. I only put the beginning and the ending in the story because it annoys me when people have half their story be just song lyrics. Oh and sorry if it confused anyone with the little Alec P.o.v in the middle of Jace's, but I wanted it in there and didn't feel like making a change of P.o.v for just two sentences.**** Anyway, let me know what you think! Just press the review button right there! I'll update quicker if I get more reviews, so go right ahead. **

**-Fiori^_^**


	9. Nightmares are Literary Devices

Clary squeezed her eyes shut tighter, but she could still sense her father nearby.

"Look at me, Clarissa," Valentine's smooth voice came from somewhere close to her ear, and Clary flinched away from it. "Clarissa." His voice repeated, "Look at me."

Clary refused to let him win, so she kept her eyes closed so tight that it hurt and shook her head slightly.

Her father's voice was no louder now, but it was harsher, more demanding, and this time when he called her name, she couldn't keep her eyes closed, no matter how hard she fought.

Valentine stood on the sandy shore of a black lake, the only light around was from the few stars glimmering above them in the night sky. It was beautiful, the reflection on the lake's inky surface, and Clary longed to draw it, but she couldn't move her arms. Turning her attention back to her father, she noticed a long sword with a black blade in his hand, and a body at his feet. Though the light was dim, the realization that it was Jace who lay lifeless in the sand at their father's feet, that the blade wasn't black, it was slicked with blood from where it had been thrust through Jace's chest, hit Clary like a flare of sunlight. Her mouth fell open, and she stared in horror at the scene before her for a moment before turning her head away. However, she could not escape the image of Jace, eyes closed, and covered in a pool of his own blood; it was mirrored in the lake, unbroken by any waves or ripples.

All of a sudden, a shape seemingly made of a bright light burst from the lake's depths, shattering the reflection. Behind her, Jace's eyes shot open filling the shore and the heavens above it with the same brilliance as the shining figure that was now standing behind Valentine. The blood around him was no longer red, but a golden color like his eyes should have been had they not been filled with light. The dark shape of their father blocked the light from the mysterious figure, but then Valentine, indestructible, ruthless Valentine, crumpled to the ground as a flood of light burst forth from the stranger. Clary screamed, but no sound left her mouth.

Clary sat up abruptly, clutching the sheets around her. She heard the faint sounds of footsteps sprinting to her room, and Jace burst inside, stumbling to her bed and sitting next to her. He put both hands on either side of her face, staring at her anxiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, still wide eyed, "I thought I heard you scream."

Clary blinked rapidly, trying to make herself understand that it had only been a dream, that Jace was still with her. He stared at her, looking more concerned than Clary remembered he ever had. She shook her head slowly in response to his question, "Just a dream," she said, her voice shaking, "Only a dream."

Jace wrapped his strong arms around Clary, pulling her to his hard chest. "It's okay," he murmured, pressing his lips to the top of her head. The steady sound of his heartbeat soothed Clary. He was really here, alive, with her.

As Clary drifted off back to sleep, the same voice that had been nagging her whispered, 'But is it?'

**AN: Let me know what y'all think of it (AKA REVIEW NOW! :) ) Heehee foreshadowing… my English teacher would be so proud. In case that confused anyone, the voice is responding to Jace's statement. So, it's basically asking if everything really is okay. Anyway, hope you liked it! **

**-Fiori^_^**

**ALSO: my friends that read my stuff tell me that I write like a different age than I actually am. Please PM me with the age you think I am based only on my writing. I really want to see if it's true or if they're just trying to screw with my head. Thanks so much!**

**-Fiori^_^ (Again. And PS sorry I wrote so much in my note at the end. My bad…)**


	10. It Took Me Long Enough

**Chapter…10? I know you've been waiting a while… a long while… for it, so…**

Jace P.o.v- Jace stared down at Clary, curled to his chest. He remembered first meeting her at Pandemonium, then following her around afterwards. Jace even recalled, with a scowl, how he had hated Simon because he was so close to Clary, when Jace was sure that 'close' to Clary was something that he couldn't allow himself, as a serious Shadowhunter, to ever be. Clary smiled in her sleep, and turned away from Jace, unconsciously grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. Jace chuckled slightly, trying not to shake too much and wake Clary up from where she lay directly under him. 'This close enough?' he asked himself, 'I doubt I could get all that much closer to her.' He could feel the heat from her small frame on his chest, her heart beating in perfect synchronization with his, and he slowly lowered his face to hers, kissing her cheek and whispering, "Goodnight, my love."

**AN: Sorry, it's reallyreallyreally short, but I like it anyway and I hope y'all do too. So, I guess review and I'll try to make the next chapter a lot longer than this one, but I've had no time/ ability to write because my computer's been broken since last update. **_Any ideas of what you want to see in further chapters?_** Please feel free to drop me a message or whatever, cuz I like writing for people other than just myself. Right now, the story's only what I want to happen, so umm…. I'm open to any ideas! **_LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE FLUFF, ACTION, OR OTHER STUFF!___**By the Angel, you've gotta tell me- I can't read minds. **

**It's actually more of a note, and less of a chapter, but I figured I had to at least give you guys something. Umm... just saying, I have a lot of crap to do, so I might not be updating that quickly. Also, please review with constructive criticism and whatever else you want to tell me. I find it easier to write (and update) if people are actually giving me something to work with. So, yeah… that's about all I've got to say about that. **

**-Fiori^_^**


	11. Morning and Angst for Alec

Clary P.o.v- Clary woke up more rested than ever. Keeping her eyes closed, she started to sit up, only to be kept down by a weight on her stomach. Then the previous night came rushing back into her memory. Her bad dream, Jace coming into her room, falling back to sleep. 'He stayed,' she thought, then opened her eyes.

Jace was still asleep beside her, his angels face relaxed and serene, and his arm draped heavily across her. Clary reached out and smoothed her hand over his messy golden curls. He looked younger somehow, as if the terrors of the world they lived in were unable to reach him in his dreams.

Clary leaned closer to him, stretching to put her lips gently to his, and then hesitated. She didn't want to wake him- he looked so peaceful, something he never looked when he was awake. Clary had an urge to draw him as he slept on, but her arm was pinned under his.

Ever so slowly, Jace's eyes opened in slits. Clary wasn't sure if she had imagined it, because they closed again so abruptly, it was as if they had not been opened at all. Trying to see if he was actually still sleeping, Clary shifted even closer to him. For a moment, she stared at him. Then Jace's hand came up to cup the back of her neck, gently crushing her lips to his, and his golden eyes opened and locked on hers.

Jace P.o.v- Jace kissed Clary gently for a long moment before allowing the kiss to break so she could breathe.

"Good morning to you too," she panted, "Though next time, warn me before you do that- I can't think straight before I've had coffee anyway, and kissing of any kind makes the problem with incoherency even worse."

Jace pretended to pout, "So you think I'm a problem? Fine then, I'll leave." Jace thought that Clary would break something if she moved any faster to grab him around the waist, her eyes wide.

"No!" Clary and Jace stared at each other for a long moment, then Jace started to laugh so hard the whole bed shook. Clary's expression changed to one of annoyance, her green eyes narrowing at him.

After a long moment, his laughter subsided, and Jace smiled at Clary, "Kay, I'll stay, if you really feel that strongly about it, but I bet you'd kick me out right now for saying that if I wasn't just so damn sexy" and watched as her pleasure that he was staying conflicted with her annoyance that he was being such, as Clary would say, an asshat about it.

She did look a little pissed, and he thought maybe he had gone too far. So, to make sure nothing would happen that they'd regret later, Jace brought his lips back to hers, sliding his arms around her, and they picked up right where they had left off.

**AN: If you want more of this kind of fluff, I'll put it in. I might put some Alec/Magnus fluff in later, if you want. **_**But you gotta let me know!**_

Alec P.o.v- Alec stood outside of Jace's room, waiting. He had already been waiting for him for half an hour. 'By the Angel,' he thought, 'He's taking longer to get ready than Magnus! And Jace doesn't even use all that glitter.'

Slumping against the wall, Alec allowed himself to slip into a daydream about the last time he had seen the shimmering warlock, and flushed as he remembered all the different, not- quite- conventional uses for glitter that Magnus had shown him. **(AN: heehee. You can use your imagination, I'm sure.) **

It had taken him hours to get that glitter out of his hair alone, and it had seemed to be nearly encrusted on his scalp… and other body parts that were thankfully covered by his clothes.

Alec shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to re-focus as the rush of blood to his face heated his cheeks.

At that moment, Jace came walking casually around the corner, as if it was perfectly normal for him to still be in pajamas after noon, as if he had forgotten that every morning for as long as Alec could remember Jace being there, they had trained together.

Without exception, they had sparred every morning that they were in the institute; no matter if one or both of them were sick, they had always had training. It was just a part of life. And now Jace… Alec didn't understand if he had simply forgotten, or if he was purposely trying to avoid him after the extremely awkward conversation between them the other day.

What if Alec had said something wrong, given something away? Sure, he had tried to make it seem like he wasn't upset about Jace wanting to be with Clary so badly that it actually pained him to be away from her. But what if something had slipped out? Alec had never been that great at lying…

A few feet away from where Alec stood, Jace looked up, saw him, and froze. "Hey." He said, "What's up?"

For a moment, Alec considered lunging at him and choking him to death, the stupid asshole. Jace couldn't have forgotten- and Alec smacked himself internally for being so dumb to even consider it. "Nothing." He shrugged his reply, then turned to go.

So Jace hadn't noticed anything off about Alec's reaction the other day. He probably was just still thinking of Clary. On one hand, he was relieved that Jace hadn't picked up on that. On the other, he only hadn't noticed because the only thoughts in his head were of a certain redheaded newcomer to their world.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, and Jace yanked him backwards. "What the hell," he asked, "Is your problem, Alec? You're standing there like you're waiting for me, and then as soon as I come, you leave, and now you're staring at me all weird. Did something crawl up your ass again or something?"

And now he was trying to joke about it, as if he didn't already know that he had missed the single most important part of the day. Now he wasn't just getting on Alec's nerves. He was frikin jumping up and down on them wearing a pair of boots with spikes on the bottom. And Alec grew more and more irritable with every word that came out of his mouth.

Alec blinked. He had been staring at the single red, curly hair sticking out from among Jace's messy blond ones, and he knew where Jace had been instead of the training room like he was supposed to be. Cold anger filled Alec's veins with ice.

"You missed training this morning." He said coldly, "So, I'll see you there tomorrow, if you're not too _preoccupied_." Alec spat the last word at him, spun on his heel, and stalked away down the hall.

He was angry at Jace, for forgetting, for not caring. He was pissed at Clary, for making Jace forget, for replacing him.

But most of all, the person whom Alec was absolutely furious at, for being idiot enough to think maybe he had had a shot, for allowing himself to hope, for everything, was himself.

**AN: Okay… review please. I'm sure we've gone over this before. I kinda want to do another Alec p.o.v. for the next chapter too, but I probably have to give one of the others a turn… I'm not quite sure where I'm taking the JaceXClary relationship after this, but I'll probably still have a happy ending. Probably. No guarantees though- I love a good sad ending. **

**-Fiori ^_^**


	12. Insert chapter title here

**AN: Hi, I know I didn't post for a bit- I am truly sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**ALSO- Thanks so much to everyone who has commented (one of my favorite things in the world!) , favorited (both story and author), and alerted (same). I've kept forgetting to mention you awesome people- my bad, sorry- but I just wanted to say thanks, even though it's a bit late. To conclude that random bit of… whatever, go ahead and read and review!**

**-Fiori ^_^**

Clary P.o.v- After Jace had left her room, Clary started to clean up the mess. It wasn't all her fault that her room was a mess- Jace had had some part in it too. She chuckled quietly to herself. It was rather funny how Jace, who normally had the amazing grace and agility of a cat, became so prone to knocking things over when he was particularly… riled up.

She had just finished straightening everything up when Isabelle came flying into the room, slamming the door open and causing all the loose items to fly once more into the air and settle back to the floor in a scattered heap. "Well?" Isabelle demanded, "What the hell is going on?"

Clary was stunned, "What do you mean?" she asked, instantly switching to the defensive.

"Like you don't know already," Isabelle snorted, "Now tell me what's going on, and why Alec is so upset, because he won't tell me."

Alec was upset? About what? That was news to Clary. "I don't know what you're talking about," she answered truthfully.

Narrowing her eyes, Isabelle just said, "We'll see about that." Then she was gone, as quickly as she had come.

Clary felt a brief rush of relief, followed by a huge wave of anxiety. What had Isabelle found out that made her think that Clary was somehow responsible for Alec's moodiness? She could worry about the cleaning later. For now, she needed someone to talk to, someone who wouldn't judge or tell anyone. Picking up her phone, she started to dial Simon's number, and then sighing, she hit cancel. Simon wouldn't tell anyone, but he would be disgusted if she told him everything she wanted to say. Who then, could she call?

Suddenly, she had an idea. Scrolling through her contacts, she found a number not used very often. "Hey, can I talk to you?" she held her breath as he replied. "Kay, thanks, I'll be right over." She left the institute as quickly as she could without attracting attention.

Magnus P.o.v- 'Today, so far, has been incredibly boring,' Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, thought to his completely gelled and glittered out self, 'more boring than the rest of the century combined. I haven't had a party in like a week!'

Announcing out loud to no one in particular- because no one was there, and why was there no one there, because it was dead boring! - Magnus beamed, "I will have to arrange a totally awesome party, which will overshadow every other party in the universe for at least a few decades!"

He sat on the couch, beginning to plan his amazing bash, when his plotting was interrupted by a ringing phone. Oh joy, one of his favorite people was calling. Albeit not his all time favorite person, or even second favorite person, but she was a close third. **(AN: To Clarify, Magnus' two favorite people are Alec and… himself of course! Who else could compete with being a favorite of everyone's favorite sparkly gay Sonic the Hedgehog?) **

"Hello!" he said cheerfully into the phone. Clary sounded upset, so immediately Magnus dropped his joyous tone and suggested that she come to visit immediately.

As soon as he hung up, the devious smile returned to his face. Though not quite a super party, a pity party was a party nonetheless. He'd have to get everything ready before Clary came, and she was already on her way over.

Jace P.o.v: "Hey Church, have you seen Clary?" The cat stared at him, then turned and padded away. What was with everyone? They all seemed to be mad at him. First Alec, then Isabelle, who had come bursting into his room demanding that he tell her what was wrong with her moody, bi-polar older brother, and now Church.

And, Clary was nowhere to be found, did that mean she was pissed at him too? Seemed to be the new trend around here.

Since no one would talk to him here, maybe he would have to go somewhere else to find someone he could vent to. Jace was sure that Magnus wouldn't mind, and maybe he would know what Alec's latest mental issue was.

Slipping out of his room where, yet again, he had been sitting by himself in angst, Jace headed off to Magnus'. He read all the girly magazines- maybe there was something in an advice column that he had seen that could make Jace laugh and forget about everyone hating him for the moment. .

Alec P.o.v: **(AN: YAY FINALLY!) **Alec hated not talking to Jace. It had only been a few hours, but he was already missing the other boy. They were Parabati, after all, so it was perfectly reasonable for Alec to feel a part of him was gone when Jace was, right?

He sighed. This whole sitting- in- angst deal wasn't really his thing, Jace was more the angsty type- Alec was mostly just moody, as pretty much everyone was always pointing out. He needed something to do, something to pick himself up before he got to the whole banging-my-head-against-the-wall stage.

Alec grabbed his jacket and sprinted to the elevator. He knew exactly where he needed to go to find his perfect way to cheer up- Magnus was always really energetic- assuming he'd had his coffee, that is. He didn't bother calling. Magnus had told him to come by whenever, after all.

He almost stopped at Jace's room to tell him he was going out, but then he remembered that they weren't speaking, and the dull pain in his stomach came back to mind. Alec kept going without another glance at Jace's door.

**AN: Bwahaha, yes I am a bit sadistic, why do you ask? So Jace, Clary and Alec are all going to Magnus' to talk to him about their problems, relationships, etc… so of course they are all going to run into each other. But I think we're all gonna need therapy after this (me especially! …time to find a new therapist, yet again…)**

Clary P.o.v: She knocked on Magnus' door, and it opened slowly, revealing a strangely dressed Magnus Bane. Normal for most other people, but for him, it was as strange as seeing someone else wearing Magnus' everyday clothes would be. He was wearing a suit and tie, and there was not a speck of glitter to be seen, not even in his hair, which lay uncharacteristically flat.

"Come in, come in," Magnus said, ushering Clary into the room. There were only three pieces of furniture other than a large potted plant- a swiveling office chair, a small table with a lamp on it, and a long brown couch.

"Um, Magnus," she began to ask what was with the spontaneous redecoration, but he cut her off.

"Doctor Bane."

Clary was even more confused, "I'm sorry, what?"

"My name," Magnus announced grandly, allowing some of his normal self to creep back in, "Is Doctor Bane!"

She stared at him in a mixture of confusion and alarm.

"Now, if you would please," Magnus gestured to the couch after seating himself in the chair and taking up a small notebook from the table.

Clary sat in sheer horror as she realized exactly what Magnus had in mind.

"So, Clarissa," Magnus said, in a voice not unlike the ones used by psychiatrists on TV, "Why don't you tell me what's been going on."

Knowing it was useless to argue, and that it would be more painless to just go along with it, Clary began to recount everything to Magnus. She was about halfway through her tale when the door slammed open.

Jace was leaning against the doorframe with his fist outstretched, then still looking down, he brushed his knuckles against his shirt. "Sorry about that," he said, sounding like he normally did while he apologized, which was not really sounding sorry at all, "I didn't mean to hit it that hard."

Clary sat up abruptly. What was he doing here? With a wave of his hand, Magnus replaced the therapist-office room with the furniture arrangement he usually had. The couch under Clary disappeared, and she was left falling for a split second before a chair appeared underneath her. Still, it was enough to make her give a little shout of surprise.

Jace looked up in her direction, alarm written all over his face. "Oh. Clary. What are you doing here?"

Clary opened her mouth to respond, but she didn't know quite how to explain, so she closed it without saying anything at all.

Thankfully, Magnus cut in, "She was just giving me some company. It gets so boring around here, you know, when no one's being turned into a rat, or sabotaging vampires' motorcycles, or anything. We were just about to get coffee. You want?" he held out a steaming mug of coffee to each of them, then proceeded to conjure up another one for himself. "Anyway, what brings you here, Jace?"

Jace started to ask if Magnus knew anything about why Alec was acting so unlike himself when once again, the door opened, and there stood Alec himself.

"What about me?" he asked. Clary had never heard Alec use any tone quite that cold, even when they had first met, when Clary was convinced he had hated her.

"I was wondering," Jace glanced at him defiantly and set down his coffee mug as he stood, "Whether Magnus knew anything about why you've been acting like a demon crawled up inside your-"

"What do you mean I'm acting-" Alec paused for a split second, then yelled, "You're the one who's been acting weird!"

Clary sensed that things were going to be really heating up between the two boys, and she scooted her chair backwards to try and stay out of anything that happened. Magnus, on the other hand, had a completely different and opposite reaction. The warlock, who mysteriously had started shimmering again with a small coat of glitter, leaned forward excitedly, muttering to himself about how finally, something was happening around here.

"What do you mean?" Jace demanded, sneering, "I'm not the one being all bi-polar."

Alec's ice blue eyes looked like if it was possible to freeze Jace with a look, they would do so. "You forgot about our training. We've done it together for so long now, ever since we were little-"

Magnus briefly cut in with a coughed, "That's what she said."

Clary shot a surprised glance at him, and he shrugged apologetically.

"-So how could you just suddenly forget? It's nothing new, Jace."

Jace looked momentarily stunned, like he had actually forgotten. Maybe that was Clary's fault a little bit, for… distracting him. "And that's your reason for flipping out and giving me the silent treatment? What are we, three?" He gave a harsh laugh, "No, even when we were three I think you wouldn't have done that. Funny, you were more mature back then, probably."

"And you've never been mature, yet you still seem to get more infantile and irresponsible as you get older anyway." Alec accused.

"WHAT THE HELL, GUYS?"

Everyone turned to stare at Isabelle, standing and looking at Alec and Jace standing almost nose- to- nose where they had been shouting at each other. Simon stood awkwardly behind her, staring only at his feet, as if he wished he could be anywhere else but here.

**AN: AN: So… Devious Magnus, awkward moments, and finally something is creating some excitement in Magnus's boring week. What's gonna happen next? You're gonna have to wait for the next update to find out! But if you be nice and review, I'll be nice and post it sooner. **

**-Fiori ^_^**


	13. Is This the Calm or the Storm?

Alec P.o.v: Isabelle strode into the center of the room, pushing the two boys apart, all the while pulling Simon along by his wrist.

If it was possible to look happy and miserable at the same time, he was doing just that; Alec mused as he caught himself before Isabelle's shove made him fall.

Jace was caught off guard and very narrowly avoided hitting the wall.

"All day, you idiots have been acting like even bigger morons than you've ever been before! And people say I'm the dramatic one! I'm getting sick of your drama already- even in those goddamn soap operas where everyone's in a love triangle, or being arrested for killing someone, or getting pregnant, or getting completely wasted at a club and winding up sleeping with her fiancé's father, brother, second cousin, and the best man-"

She noticed everyone in the room wearing identical expressions of 'WTF?' with the exception of Magnus, who had a look of sheer joy on his face that he had found someone else that watched the same soap operas as he did.

"-Long story. Anyway," Isabelle continued, "Even in the soaps, the people still are less dramatic than you two. By the Angel, I swear neither of you two are leaving here until you figure out what's going on and get over it already!"

For the first time in a very long time, Alec noticed Jace's face, which showed the highest anxiety he had ever seen. "Isabelle, shut up!" he said, before Jace had a heart attack or something.

She looked extremely offended, and Alec immediately regretted it. He doubted Isabelle was going to let that go, small offense though it was, without some kind of revenge for it.

Especially because Jace didn't really deserve his intervention, in Alec's opinion. Jace was the one who Isabelle _should_ be pissed at.

Walking over to Jace and throwing an arm carelessly over his shoulders, he told her, "Besides, we're all good now, right?" Alec elbowed him playfully in the side, "Just needed to work off some steam, that's all." Clary looked relieved, Simon still looked like Simon- which, Alec supposed, was quite a bit better than being turned into a rat-, Magnus looked disappointed, and Isabelle did not look convinced; but she backed off anyway.

"Well then, I guess we'll just get going then. Bye Magnus, nice seeing you. Simon?" Isabelle grabbed his wrist and they left, Simon looking rather relieved to be going while he was still a human. As soon as the door shut, Alec stepped away and then turned back to face Jace.

"This isn't over yet. Around Isabelle, yes, but otherwise," he trailed off, shaking his head.

Clary stood up, grabbing Jace's arm. "Okay, then. Let's go before you guys rip each other into pieces." Pulling Jace to the door, Clary turned back to Alec, who scowled, "We'll see you later, 'kay Alec?"

He nodded once, slowly. Jace still didn't look at him, just continued on his way, towing Clary along with him.

Alec sat next to Magnus as once again, the door closed, with Clary turning around to wave a quick bye to Magnus.

Magnus waved his hand, and suddenly the chairs were replaced with a large and very comfy couch, the lights were dimmed, and the TV was on low. Alec knew he was disappointed that everything had been 'resolved' so quickly, but if he didn't say anything.

He always knew, had always known, exactly how to make Alec feel better.

Without thinking, Alec turned to Magnus and kissed him full on.

When they broke apart, Magnus blinked a few times. "That's more like it," he smiled, "I like this Alec so much better than the one who was being a complete idiot just a few minutes ago."

Before Alec could respond, Magnus had already put his mouth back to Alec's, so he settled for wrapping his arms around the warlock instead of speaking.

**AN: Okay, so who knew that Isabelle and Magnus watched the same soap opera? I don't know if there actually is a soap with all that in it, but it wouldn't surprise me. **

Jace P.o.v: Who was Alec to say if it was really not all over yet? Jace fumed silently.

But he was right- this wasn't over. Jace hated the fact that Isabelle had gotten involved before he found out the reason why Alec was being such an idiot. And now they couldn't even fight openly without both being killed by Isabelle.

So he'd have to think of something else. After all, he was Jace, master of bad things.

So why were there practically no ideas in his head? His eyes narrowed as he reached his room and the doorknob stuck. Wrenching it open, he strode inside to sit on his bed and think.

But, seeing as everything in his room was missing, there was a slight problem with that plan.

A single note on the floor, obviously from Alec, though not signed so it technically couldn't be used as evidence, was the only thing in the room other than Jace. He picked it up and read,

_Hey Jace, hope you don't mind too much getting all your stuff down from the Institute's roof. I know you don't mind heights. I thought you might need a bit of time to calm yourself down and get your head on straight. Hodge always did say that the best was to clear your mind was to do hard menial labor, so it might work for you. If not, I'm not really sorry, in fact, I'm kinda glad. Anyway, have fun with that, and I'm sure I can come up with more ways to help you get your priorities sorted out. _

Jace's mouth dropped open. Alec had found a way to put all of his belongings on the roof- but Jace was sure he hadn't come home yet. And as for heights, yeah, Jace didn't mind heights, but he still didn't want to accidentally drop his bed however many hundreds of feet off the ground.

Sighing, he headed up to the roof, mind still spinning as to what he could do to get Alec back for this, only a hundred times worse.

**AN: Let me know if you've got any ideas for how Jace should get Alec back. 'Cause honestly, I don't have many. **

Alec P.o.v.: "Have I told you lately that I love you?" Alec asked, "Cuz I do."

Magnus smiled, "Especially now, as we're plotting our revenge on the golden haired wonder for being mean to you."

Alec wrinkled his nose. "You make it sound like we're babies."

"To me," Magnus pointed out, "Even your grandparents are babies. And this whole argument between you two is a bit infantile, just saying."

"You're still helping me with it," Alec said, and Magnus laughed.

"Yes, but I have my own motives for that. Now," he continued, "Let me work." Magnus scrunched up his face, concentrating. A small box magically appeared on the table. Alec reached for it, but without opening his eyes, Magnus slapped his hand away.

"Alright," the warlock said, opening his eyes and wiggling his fingers, "Jace's belongings are on the roof."

Alec wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he heard Magnus whisper, "Mostly."

"Can we watch it? I wanna see his face," Alec smiled at his boyfriend.

Magnus flicked his finger at the TV, and an image of Jace's now empty room came into view.

When Magnus got up, grabbed the mysterious box, and headed to the other room, Alec followed.

"Don't you want to see it?"

Magnus nodded, "Yes, but I also need to moisturize. Concentrating too hard makes me scrunch my face up like this," he demonstrated briefly, "And that causes wrinkles. I've lived the past eight hundred years without them, and I'd rather not start now. Besides, I can always just watch it later." He snapped, and bright sparks flickered around his finger.

Alec nodded, then turned back to the TV. Jace's doorknob was just turning.

**AN: So, what's in the box? And what are Magnus's mysterious motives? What kind of moisturizer does the shimmering warlock use? And does anyone care? Well, you'll have to find out later! **

**-Fiori ^_^**

**IMPORTANT: I don't have all that much time to write, so I'd rather just update every other week than put up a crappy chapter just to get something up. Hope y'all understand. **


	14. That New Kid

Clary P.o.v.: Clary shut her door and flopped down on the bed. What was going on between Alec and Jace lately? And why was she apparently involved in all this?

At least Isabelle didn't seem to be as mad at her as she had been before. Now that the boys had 'made up' when she yelled at them, Isabelle was a lot nicer.

Clary picked up her sketchbook and started to draw. She drew until her hand hurt, and crumpled the paper into a ball without looking at it. When she threw it across the room, it bounced off the far wall and landed behind the small desk in the corner. She hated not being able to do anything.

When Valentine had been terrorizing everyone on a regular basis, there had at least been something to do. Now, there was absolutely nothing to distract her.

Tears started to leave her eyes before she could stop them from rolling down her cheeks. Before now, she had always had training, trying to plan against her father's attacks, fighting demons, and everything else in the life of a Shadowhunter. Now there was nothing to do, and nothing to stop her desperation from setting in.

It was time to face the facts. She and Jace could never actually be together.

After all, what would Simon say? What would Isabelle think? And Alec? The rest of the Lightwoods? Hell, what would the rest of the entire Shadowhunting world think? What would Valentine- no, Clary didn't really care what their father thought.

But everyone else would be disappointed, angry, disgusted, and not one of them would ever understand.

So how would she tell Jace? Knowing him, he might go off and do something incredibly stupid and get himself killed, or at least physically damaged somehow. And she cared enough about him that she didn't want that to happen. Hell, she cared too much for him completely!

"Clary?" Maryse Lightwood stood in the doorway, beckoning her to come along, "I'd like you to meet our newest 'resident'. That is, he will be staying with us for a few months or so."

They reached the kitchen, where a boy with jet black hair was sitting at the table.

"This is Sebastian Verlac. He's visiting from the Beijing Institute. Sebastian, this is Clary."

The boy looked at her with dark eyes scorching, blacker than his hair; Clary felt a strange feeling- a connection between them.

**AN: And now you probably all hate me. But, I'm not going to apologize for bringing Seb/J.C. into this thing, so… suck it up, I guess. Or leave a flame or something. Your choice ^_^**

Jace P.o.v: Jace couldn't believe this. There was something about this new kid at the Institute- Sebastian, or something like that- that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

It was… unsettling somehow, and that made Jace extremely uncomfortable. Nothing was supposed to make him nervous, or even apprehensive in the slightest. It just went against his nature completely.

Still, there was something about him that reminded Jace of his father- in the haughty dark eyes. And there was something that reminded his of Jace in the swagger, the way he already looked like he owned everything. Which, he supposed, also came from his father.

Maybe it was the resemblance of his father in the new kid that Jace immediately hated him for.

Or perhaps it was just the fact that when Jace had entered the kitchen, Sebastian had been sitting at the kitchen table with Clary, and they were laughing together. Clary had a huge smile on her face, and the fact that someone she barely even knew could merit such a response for a joke that surely could not have been all that funny made him sick to his stomach.

Still, he had swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and continued into the kitchen with a loud cough to break up the last of the laughs. Jace had introduced himself, barely bothering with injecting any measure of false warmth into his voice, and shook Sebastian's hand more firmly than was probably necessary.

"Clary," he had only nodded in way of greeting, "Meet me in the training room in ten." Before she could respond, he had disappeared. She was probably confused by his somewhat cold demeanor, but Jace was past caring about that now. All he needed to focus on right now was the threat this new kid posed him. And how to kill him quickly and silently and make it look like an accident, or a demon attack. He shook his head at himself slowly. Really, he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn't kill Sebastian yet. It would be way too suspicious.

Jace began formulating a new plan. He would devote his time to two things and those two things alone. One was to keep Clary away from Sebastian at all times if possible. The other was to 'befriend' Sebastian so when the time came to get rid of him, it wouldn't be as obvious.

Shit. Jace had completely forgotten about getting revenge on Alec. That would have to wait, he supposed, seeing as spending time with Clary and Sebastian while keeping them as far apart as possible was going to be very difficult.

He'd just have to ignore Alec and pretend he was acting very immaturely and giving him the silent treatment. It wouldn't be nearly as fun as gluing everything he owned to the ceiling, but frankly, Jace didn't have time for that now. He was utterly preoccupied.

He headed out of the Institute towards the coffee shop a few blocks over. This was going to take a lot of time and energy, and he was going to need a caffeine boost.

By the time Jace had gotten his coffee, he realized that he had completely forgotten to meet Clary. Damnit. He started back to the Institute, sloshing the hot liquid down his arm in his haste and swearing profusely.

Alec was walking towards the elevator when Jace stepped out of it.

"Jace," he began, "I'm sor-"

Jace cut him off, "Can't talk right now, Alec," forgetting that he was supposed to be ignoring him like a pouty two year old.

"No, Jace, this is important!"

Jace pushed past him, "I don't care. I don't have time for you right now," and continued on his way without so much as a backwards glance.

Alec sighed, disheartened, and headed out to go see Magnus and sulk. However, when he left, the dark haired boy he had met earlier was standing in front of the Institute, seemingly waiting for him.

He nodded at him slightly and continued on his way. Alec wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone besides Magnus right now.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and dragged him into an alleyway that was surprisingly dark for it being the middle of the day.

"Hello Alexander," came a cool voice that was terrifyingly familiar from his childhood. Oh fuck.

**AN: So, I finally wrote a bit. I had a small bit of inspiration as a nice break from a long period of writers block. **_Reviews_** are always welcome, as you should know by now. Also, there's a **_poll_** on my **_profile page_** regarding this story so **_go vote_** for an ending please (not that this will be ending that soon- I have plenty more plot twists I need to work in first.) Check out my new **_twoshot story: All of His Life_** (only part one is up so far) and let me know what you think. I think that's all the stuff I have to cover in this thing, so… Press the lovely shiny button!**

**-Fiori ^_^**


	15. Only A Bit Sadistic

**Okay, so the actual chapter 15. Enjoy! (or else…)**

**(*Warning: Contains some 'violent/sadistic' stuff, so… if you're terribly squeamish, don't read.*)**

Alex P.o.v: Alec whirled around to see if Sebastian was still there. He was standing a few feet away, at the entrance to the alleyway. Alec motioned to him to back him up, but the other boy smiled cruelly and shook his head.

Alec's eyes widened, and he turned slowly to face Valentine. The man was wearing a smile not unlike the one displayed on the face of the boy behind them.

"It's been a long time, Alexander," Valentine said slowly and pleasantly, as if Alec was an old friend who had simply dropped by for a chat. Alec's face turned up in revulsion that the man who was trying to destroy everything he knew and loved was actually talking to him.

"Screw you," he spat, reaching towards his belt to grab his dagger that he always kept handy in case of an emergency. Not finding it, Alec panicked and shot a glance back towards where Sebastian had been standing.

The last things he saw before it all went black was his dagger in Sebastian's belt, and the boy's fist, right before it slammed into his face.

When he came to, Alec was strapped down to a sturdy wooden chair with several heavy chains.

Valentine was standing a little way off, leaning against the wall casually. "Ah, Alexander, thank you for rejoining us. Now, how have you been? I haven't seen you since you were small. You have grown up well."

Alec glared at him, but didn't speak. He was aware of dried blood covering his lips and chin, and some that had not yet dried still oozing sickly from his aching nose.

Valentine raised one eyebrow. "Certainly there is something you'd like to say, Alexander."

Alec clenched his jaw and lifted his chin defiantly.

Sebastian stepped out of the shadows behind Valentine, and Alec couldn't stop his eyes from widening in surprise. It was still strange to think of him as the traitorous bastard Alec now knew he was, especially after seeing him in the Institute as a friend and fellow Shadowhunter.

The black haired bastard grinned at him. "Well, not that knocking you out and dragging your lovely carcass here wasn't fun and all, but if you're not going to be talking, I'm going to get bored very quickly," he said, pulling out Alec's knife and twisting it between his fingers.

"Jonathan," Valentine reprimanded in a warning tone, "I'm sure Alexander will be talking soon enough on his own. Or perhaps simply listening will interest him more than conversing. Perhaps I can guess what his first question would be- why I just called you 'Jonathan' rather than 'Sebastian'."

He turned to face Alec again, "Alexander, this is Jonathan. Jonathan, Alexander. You may not remember each other very well, seeing as you have not seen each other much since you were about this high," he dropped his hand to roughly knee height, "But rest assured, I'm sure you will be able to catch up considerably. We have, after all, quite a few more hours before anyone will notice you're… absent."

Alec's confusion must have shown on his face. Sebastian came closer, still smirking that arrogant, devil-may-care smirk that twisted his face almost demonically, and leaned towards Alec, "Why so confused, _Alec_?" He stressed the nickname. "You may not remember me, but surely you do remember my father, don't you now?"

Alec couldn't help himself. He opened his mouth and with his throat so dry that he was surprised it didn't start bleeding as he spoke, he managed to rasp, "Your _father_?"

Sebastian looked amusedly surprised, "Oh, but you_ didn't _know?" He let out a loud chuckle, "And I bet you think your friend _Jace_ is my father's son, right? Oh this is just too good!"

"Jonathan," Valentine warned, "Do not antagonize him. Even your sister believes that Jace is her brother."

Anger flashed in Sebastian- no, Jonathan's eyes before he replied to his father in a clipped tone, "Of course father."

Valentine continued talking, as if Seb-'_Jonathan'_, Alec reminded himself, had not said anything at all. "Your friend Jace is not my son, nor is he Clarissa's brother; he is from another family entirely, much as he may delude himself. Of course, I did raise him as a son, after his own parents died. They were good friends of mine-"

Alec interrupted, unable to stop the words from spilling out, "By _friends,_ don't you mean_ followers_?"

Valentine inclined his head towards him, and for a moment, Alec thought he was agreeing. A split second later, he realized that it had been a signal to his son, who proceeded to push the point of the knife into the back of Alec's hand. He watched in an odd, disjointed manner as the blade sunk into his flesh and the blood flowed warm and sticky out of the wound.

His hands began to shake from fatigue, and it occurred to him that he had lost more blood than he had thought. There was a steadily growing puddle of it on the floor around the chair.

At another nod from his father, Jonathan drew out a stele and scratched a quick iratze on Alec's arm. The flesh knitted itself back together where the dagger had punctured, and the blood stopped. Alec slumped, feeling slightly faint.

The numbness that had been in place of the pain Alec had expected to feel was replaced with a sharp ache, as if the knife was still in his hand, but not moving deeper anymore. Then it began to burn and sting as if his hand was on fire.

Jonathan must have seen the confusion and pain on Alec's face even though he tried to keep his emotions veiled, because the other boy walked back towards him from where he had discarded the dagger in the corner of the room.

"It's burning, isn't it?" he asked calmly, with the air of someone simply conversing about the weather. "That's because I dipped the blade in a demon's poison before I covered it with your blood." Now Jonathan's face looked more like that of a child discussing a favorite birthday present. "Father said that since you refused to cooperate, and then you couldn't even _listen_ right, we could just let you go now. So I'll let you go. You can just _slip_ away." At this point, Jonathan looked close to laughter.

He forced Alec's head back and tipped the contents of a small glass vial into his mouth, holding it shut and pinching his nose to make Alec swallow whatever it was. The liquid felt not unlike alcohol as it subtly burned down his throat, but then there was a stab of pain in his stomach that made his eyes roll back in his head.

Alec was vaguely aware that the chains holding him to the chair had disappeared, as he slipped off the seat and into the pool of his own blood. Several agonizing moments of struggling to breathe and see later, Alec slipped off into a world of black. His blood covered body stopped writhing on the cold stones of the floor and lay limp.

**AN: Sorry if this chapter gets weird at some points and/or doesn't make sense. Writing at 5 in the morning on your way to the airport might not give the best results. Anyway, leave a review, and I hope you had a great new years! (I did ^_^) I know I didn't put it up until now, but… yeah. A few more things:**

**-Check out the **poll** for this story (on my **profile page**) and** vote**-**

**-Take a look at part one of my other Mortal Instruments story **_All of His Life_**-**

**-**_**Review**_**. (It's really not that hard, people. Just say, "loved it" "hated it" "hate you" "wtf" or something.)-**

**-Fiori ^_^**


	16. Devilish, Drunkish, Deadish

Jace P.o.v: "Hey Jace?" He turned to see Isabelle standing behind him, a guarded expression on her face, "Have you seen Alec anywhere? I've been looking for him for the past few hours, but I can't seem to find him."

"Maybe he's at Magnus's," Jace suggested. _Sulking_, he added silently.

Isabelle raised a single eyebrow as if she knew exactly what he had just thought to himself.

"Anyway, how should I know? I'm not your brother's keeper," he defended, allowing the annoyance he felt towards Alec at the moment slip into his voice. It wasn't his fault that they looked so alike, with their dark hair and…

…Okay, so they didn't look that much alike. But they were both kind of on his ass right now about things that didn't really matter to him.

"Well," Isabelle looked affronted, "You don't have to be such a huge asshole. I didn't even do anything to you." She remarked, and turned on her ridiculously high heel to flounce away down the hallway.

Jace stared after her in amazement. What was _her_ problem? And she said _he_ was the one being an ass…

He wandered around the halls until he came to the one where Clary's room was. And at the other end of the hall was Clary, standing and talking to the devil incarnate.

No, perhaps that wasn't quite fair of him to call Sebastian a satanic bastard because he was talking to Clary. Jace was just overreacting.

Then something Sebastian said made Clary tip her head back with laughter, her red hair falling into her face as she flipped her head back to face Sebastian. Something red hot ripped through Jace's stomach as the other boy reached to push the fiery curls back behind her ears.

Okay, so the nickname of 'devil incarnate' was _completely_ justified.

He swallowed hard, trying to choke back the brotherly feelings telling him to wrap his hands around Sebastian's neck and squeeze the life out of him, and stepped forward again.

Clary and Sebastian must have heard his footsteps, because they turned to face him as he approached the two of them.

"Jace!" Clary smiled warmly at him, but he barely noticed her.

There was something in _his_ eyes. Jace could have sworn he'd seen a flash of some dark emotion hidden in the glittering eyes of the boy standing in front of him. Yet when he glanced back, whatever it had been was gone, as if swallowed into the depths of the black eyes. No matter how hard Jace searched, he couldn't seem to break through the careful mask of those eyes.

Jace tore his eyes from Sebastian's, and turned to Clary. The concern in hers was plain- there was nothing to disguise the emotions. So why were Sebastian's so hard to read? Clary was still looking at him with a worried expression.

"What?" he asked her, sounding a bit harsher than he had intended. His sister looked taken aback.

"I just wanted to say hi. But fine, if you'd rather be left alone, we'll just be going. Come on Sebastian," She turned her back on him, her red curls whipping over her shoulder and smacking him straight across the face.

The devil incarnate gave Jace the most self-proclaimed-superior smirk he had ever seen before he followed her and they both disappeared from view.

God _damnit_! Why was everyone acting so stupidly today? Jace gritted his teeth in anger and frustration as he picked up his feet again, realizing he had been left standing outside of Clary's room like an idiot. Unconsciously, he trudged along to the weapons room and grabbed a fistful of long daggers. One by one, he threw them at the targets on the wall furthest from him. Each time he had thrown the lot of them, he had to go all the way to the other side of the room where the targets were to collect the daggers, and unfortunately, this gave him time enough to think.

His thoughts about his so-called family, about his actual family, his whole shitty life, haunted him. Jace didn't want to think. He just wanted to get out and kill a demon or ten, pick another fight with a pack of werewolves, maybe even go back to the Hotel DeMort and kick some bloodsucking vampire ass. Instead, he focused on fixing mental images of the faces of everyone who had annoyed him in the past few days on the targets on the far wall.

_That one's Sebastian. That one's Alec, that's Sebastian. This one's Isabelle, and here's Simon. Oh, Sebastian again, _Jace thought wryly to himself as he hurled the knives towards the centers of each target with deadly accuracy. He was just about to throw the last one when the door slammed open and Clary walked in. He was about to greet her, as she looked in quite a better mood than before, but then he realized she was followed closely by Sebastian, with Isabelle bringing up the rear.

"Hey Jace," Isabelle giggled, "Are you coming? Cuz Simon should be here soon."

Jace raised one eyebrow at Clary, "One, how much has she had to drink, and, two, am I coming to what? Oh, and why would I care if Mundie's coming?"

Clary smiled, "One, no more than the rest of us. Two, the kitchen, obviously. And Simon's coming over because he's bringing the Chinese takeout. You can't call him Mundie anymore, either."

"Why? It's rude?"

"Nah, it's funny, but he's technically a Downworlder now, so…" She trailed off again, collapsing to the floor with Isabelle in a fit of giggles.

"What the hell is so funny?"

This time it was Sebastian who answered, not surprisingly, since it seemed as if the girls hadn't heard him. "I told a joke, and not even a very funny one, just to see what would happen. And they haven't stopped _laughing_." He looked a bit panicked, "And then they completely drunk-dialed this Simon kid, who is now bringing Chinese as if that will somehow sober them up."

"No," Jace mused, "But it will shut them up, I suppose." It was easier to talk to him now for some reason. Maybe it was because he looked completely open for the first time since Jace had first seen him. Or maybe the fact that Clary was not in close proximity to Sebastian by any means. It probably was. But that wasn't the point here. "Shall we get to the kitchen before Simon gets here?"

""Sure," Sebastian replied easily, "I'll take Isabelle, you get Clary?"

Jace just nodded. They half dragged, half carried the girls in the direction of the kitchen. When they were almost there, Jace heard the elevator moving slowly up to where they stood. "Simon's here," he muttered, "And a good thing too, for once."

The elevator door opened, and a very pale Simon stepped out. Blood was smeared across his neck and all down his front. The three things Jace noticed next hit him all at once, and he nearly dropped Clary.

Alec was limp in Simon's arms, completely soaked in blood. Simon was looking both queasy and hungry at the same time, holding Alec as far away from his face as he could manage, and his fangs were out. The third, and certainly least important thing that registered in Jace's head was that Simon had no Chinese food with him.

"What the hell?" Sebastian's voice came ringing through Jace's head as he was still trying to figure out how to speak again.

"Why is it," Simon choked out, "that almost every time I come here, someone turns up dying on your doorstep?"

Clary and Isabelle took this moment to stagger drunkenly into the kitchen, occasionally bumping into each other and bursting out into another round of girly laughter. By the Angel, they were way past merely tipsy.

Jace looked back at Simon, and then dashed forward to relieve him of his burden, taking in the pained expression on his face.

"We'll take him to the infirmary," Jace told Sebastian over his shoulder as he turned around, "You go get the Chinese or something." Sebastian didn't respond, but Jace heard the elevator doors close once more from behind him. "So what happened, exactly?" he questioned the vampire walking alongside him. It was still eerie to think that a vampire could come inside the Institute, even though Jace knew it was only Simon, and only because he had drank Jace's blood.

"Well, I was bringing the takeout, and I saw a body on the steps. At first, I thought it was just some homeless dude or something, but then I saw that there was a puddle of blood around the body, and no one on the street around me could see anything there out of the ordinary. Then I realized it was, well, Alec," he jerked his chin at the prone body in Jace's arms.

"So you dropped the Chinese and ran up here."

"Well, yes, but in the elevator I also called Magnus."

Jace looked at him in confusion, "You have Magnus's number?"

"Well, Clary borrowed my phone to call him for some reason a while ago when we were visiting her mom- sorry, _your_ mom- in the hospital."

To be completely honest with himself, Jace hadn't even noticed Simon's slip in calling Jocelyn only Clary's mother until he'd apologized for it. _Talk about messed up family dynamics_, Jace thought, _I'm in love with my little sister, I saw my father die when he really didn't, and I've seen my mother once. While she was in the hospital. In a coma. _

By the time they reached the infirmary, even walking as quickly as they were, Magnus Bane was already standing there waiting by the door. Right away, the two boys laid Alec on one of the beds, and sat back as Magnus closed his eyes in concentration and started muttering under his breath, flames and sparks of all different colors flashing about his hands.

No one had given Sebastian's leaving any second thought. So, no one noticed when instead of picking up the dropped takeout and heading back in or going to get a new order, he headed in the exact opposite direction of the Chinese restaurant.

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to update. My laptop got a virus thing and I couldn't use it to type up the chapter for a few days, let alone upload it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review- comment, question, flame, etc… Also, Gung Hay Fat Choy to any Chinese readers (As I eat a lovely Cha Siu Bao)! **

**-Fiori ^_^**


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